The basics- 32, never married, no kids. Started my own company
doing custom painting and airbrush artwork. I absolutely love it,
since art and painting are passions of mine, but "career" can only
fulfill so much of your life.
Instead of giving a bunch of boring facts, I'll tell you the story
of how I got my dog. It's kinda heart-warming, and more interesting
anyway.
I've always wanted an American Bulldog, and finally found a breeder
in my area with some puppies on the way. So, I had things lined up
to buy a female puppy from that litter.
My significant other at the time had a "better" idea (as they often
do). She was going to school to be a Vet Tech at the time, and was
staunchly opposed to buying animals from breeders, and insisted I
should adopt instead.
We've had several rescue dogs in my family, and I was all for the
idea in theory. Finding a female American Bulldog puppy up for
adoption, though, is a lot like finding hen's teeth. You'll usually
have better luck finding bigfoot having tea with the Easter
Bunny.
After some negotiation/nagging, I agreed that IF she could find a
female American Bulldog puppy (or even an AB mix), that I would
adopt instead of buying from the breeder. I had been watching
Petfinder for months, so I was sure her search would come up empty
as well.
Of course, I was wrong. The VERY next day, a listing came up. The
only "but" being that it was in Michigan. But I am a man of my
word, so I talked my brother-in-law pilot to fly me over to pick up
the dog from BFE, Michigan. (I should mention that I'm NOT a fan of
flying, especially in small planes, and even more especially in
small, single-engine planes).
We flew over, and got to the "shelter", which was an old-school,
jail-for-dogs complete with inmate caretakers and metal bars. The
guy in charge looked like a long-retired jailer.
So, I told him I was there to pick up my dog, and he told me that
they didn't have any female bulldog puppies, that the "girls" who
post the listings must have screwed up. But, he thought he knew
which dog they were talking about, and asking if I wanted to see it
anyway.
Not one to go all that way for nothing, I said "sure", and braced
for the worst. One of the inmates bought out a bounding little
black and white puppy who was wagging his tail so hard he could
hardly walk straight. I could tell that it definitely wasn't an
American Bulldog, but it resembles one. I figured there was some
pitbull, some rottweiler, and a good dose of God-only-knows in
there.
There was no way I could leave that dog in that mini-prison, so I
agreed to take it. It wasn't what I had envisioned, extactly, but
it was so friendly and sweet, that I walked away happy.
Back at the "airport", we were waiting for the plane to be
refueled, and were playing with the puppy in the lawn. Up until
that point, we had assumed the listing at least had the gender
correct, buuuut, once the puppy jumped up to catch a frisbee, it
was very obvious that it was NOT a female.
I figured "screw it". We had already bonded, and he wasn't going
back. So, I set out of Michigan to pick up a female American
Bulldog puppy, and came home with a male, who-knows-what mutt.
Today, I wouldn't trade him for 100 bulldogs. "Mans best friend"
barely scratches the surface.
When it came time to pick a name, I remembered a joke my mom used
to try to tell us as kids (I say "try", because she's terrible at
telling jokes, and could never make it to the punchline). In the
joke, there's a mongrel mutt named Fido, but who spells his name
P-h-y-d-e-a-u-x to seem more respectable. I decided that that was
the PERFECT name for my mutt. The best part is watching the
receptionists at the vets office see his name and try to pronounce
it ;-)

Trying to grow as a person, a spiritual being, and as an artist.
Growing my business into what I envision it being. Spending time
with my nephews (hey, it's cheaper than therapy ;-) . Taking Krav
Maga classes (it's almost as expensive as therapy, but much more
fun).

Hopefully I'm as good as I think I am at painting, or I'm screwed.
lol. I can play a bit of guitar, too. I'm also really good at
knowing and memorizing small, seemingly useless facts, yet I'd
probably forget my own birthday if no one reminded me.
I've been told I'm a good listener, but I'm not really sure how
someone can really be bad at that, unless you seriously have no
interest in what someone has to say.
Oh, and children, animals, and little old ladies seem to love me.
Not really something I'm good at, per se, but noteworthy, I think.

I have way too many favorite books to even start a list without
either running on for days or leaving a ton out. Generally, I like
non-fiction books, biographies, books about spirituality and
religion, and history.

I've been a music fanatic since I was in grade school, and I love
music from across the board. A few of my current favorites would
include Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Clapton, Smashing
Pumpkins (the older stuff, pre-Adore), Johnny Cash, and Nirvana. I
also love old, pre WWII Delta/acoustic blues. Robert Johnson, Son
House, Mississippi John Hurt, Charlet Patton, Muddy Waters, and
Skip James are just a few of my favorites.
As far as "new" music goes, honestly, I think most of it is crap
(being a music fan also comes with a bit of cynicism, I guess). I
do like Old Crow Medicine Show, Mumford & Sons, Cee Lo Green,
the Black Keys, the White Stripes, etc.

My 8gb ipad is completely full with just music, and it I couldn't
fit everything I wanted onto it, if that gives you an idea.

As far as movies go, I'm generally pretty easy to please. I haven't
seen too many that were so terrible I just couldn't watch. There
are a few, though. lol. I'd have to say my favorite movie would be
The Shawshank Redemption, with Cool Hand Luke being a close second.

I just spend a lot of time thinking. lol. The future, the past, my
life, what direction I'm going in, and what direction I want to go
in, art, music, a book I read, spirituality and/or God. The list
could go on for a while. I tend to be introspective, and like
comtemplating the mysteries of life. But, I've also found that I
sometimes tend to get too lost in my thoughts, and need to get out
of my head for a while now and then.

if you're the type of person who sees an old, beat up car, and says
"that is AWESOME" while daydreaming about what it could be with a
bit of work. Not so much if you see an old car and automatically
think "ewwww" (if you don't like cars, substitute houses, or
whatever it is you do like)